Translating literary dialect: Victorian English in Peninsular Spanish

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This paper briefly attempts to examine the actual problems translators face when rendering regional varieties, as well as the potential mechanisms they can resort to so as to ensure success in the target text.

Methods

By using some examples in Victorian literature (more specifically to the work of Thomas Hardy) and two Spanish translations of one of his most popular novels.

Results

Standarization seems to be the norm when these dialectal features transcend geographical and sociological boundaries, although some compensatory strategies can be observed. Still, these do not manage to convey the identities of the characters and the freshness of their language.

Conclusion

The use of dialect in translated literature deserves the attention of literary scholars and translation practitioners, given its linguistic and sociological significance and the complexities of this intricate task.

KEYWORDS:

• Dialect translation
• literary dialect
• Victorian English
• Thomas Hardy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.